While some people complain about the Madden franchise and often claim each new entry is a mere "roster update", there's a reason why EA releases a new game in the series each and every year. That reason, of course, is that each installment in the series sees massive sales.

According to the latest NPD results, that's the case yet again for Madden NFL 16, as it was the top selling video game of August, despite releasing near the end of the month. Madden NFL 16 is joined by other new titles including Gears of War: Ultimate EditionRare Replay, and Until Dawn, but the rest of the slots are dominated by top selling mainstays.

These are the top selling games of August 2015:

1. Madden NFL 16 (PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

2. Minecraft (PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

3. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition (Xbox One)

4. Grand Theft Auto 5 (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

5. LEGO Jurassic World (3DS, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

6. Rare Replay (Xbox One)

7. Until Dawn (PS4)

8. Call of Duty: Black Ops Combo Pack (PS3, Xbox 360)

9. Batman: Arkham Knight (PS4, Xbox One)

10. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

It's no surprise to see Madden NFL 16 take the top spot this month, but LEGO Jurassic World, which was the top selling game of July 2015, still in the top five does come as somewhat of a surprise. One would assume that the excitement over the Jurassic Park franchise would've died down a bit, as we're a few months removed from the new movie, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

One nice surprise on the list is the PS4 exclusive horror game Until Dawn (read our review). Until Dawn was a surprisingly good and unique game, and in many ways felt like a bigger budget version of something from Telltale. For horror fans, it was a nice treat, and hopefully its strong sales continue and will be enough to justify a sequel.

In terms of exclusive software, though, Microsoft clearly won out in August. Their two exclusive games were technically re-releases of other games (and in the case of Rare Replay, 30 games), but it just goes to show that there is good money in re-releasing old, popular titles. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition managed to crack the top five, and Rare Replay, while it wasn't quite as successful, at the very least managed to outsell the only PS4 exclusive game on the list.

On the hardware front, to the surprise of few, the PS4 is still on top. While its exclusive software didn't sell quite as well as Microsoft's, people still seem to prefer the PS4 over the Xbox One overall. That being said, don't be surprised if the Xbox One manages to snag a few victories over the next few months thanks to the lack of major Sony exclusive titles releasing this holiday season.

Looking ahead, it seems obvious that Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain will probably be the top selling game of September. It is already the best selling Metal Gear game in history, and it has nowhere to go up but up. That being said, the release of The Taken King expansion for Destiny may mean that we see that game return to the top selling list as well.

As for who will win the hardware race in September, signs point to the PS4 coming out on top again. Sony lacks any strong exclusives this month, whereas Microsoft has the formidable Forza Motorsport 6 on the way, but they will likely make up for that with the impressive Destiny: The Taken King PlayStation 4 bundle that is releasing next week.

Did you pick up any new games this month?

Source: Game Informer